Keep Those Spirits Up!

It is the norm for me to espouse about the latest haps in the sports world and nothing else. I take a sideway break from that typicality to speak upon a cycle that the restaurant industry has a tendency to do this time of year. I speak only of North Texas on that note.

Should you be a career kind of restaurant cat like I am, the one period of the year you absolutely look forward to is the first week in August all the way to the first week in February. It has everything to do with getting geared for school, exhibition football getting top billing, preparing for a season of hits and misses, scores, point spreads, watching with friends and family, leading up to the holiday season and start of the following year.

This period leading up to the start of August can resemble a ghost town in some parts. Depending on how much foot traffic you generate, it can get REALLY quiet from June til August. Long term food servers know to save for this time of year. Managers bemoan the fact that labor costs will be equal to the amount of biz that comes through the front door.

2006 hasn't been a typical cycle at my place of work. Two things have kept things exciting leading up to last Tuesday. The obvious one was the success of the Dallas Mavericks keeping things busy an extra 54 playoff days, and of the course the worldwide popularity of the FIFA World Cup. Things continue to remain busier than the norm in Irving, for that I am grateful.

To my fellow restaurateurs who soak up the drink into the late night and/or close the shops down at 2am be it Dallas, Deep Ellum, Lower Greenville, Frisco, or even Addison, I say to thee that yes although this next six week period will at times appear bleak, you all know that the sound of the picks, predictions, sound of pigskin, and gradual change in the weather means good times ahead.

The hype machine has yet to go into high for the Dallas Cowboys, but rest assured that once training camp starts July 28th, the talk will be incessantly about playoff hopes and dreams. To speak football in the South is like discussing fire and brimstone in a Baptist church. It's expected. Everybody wants to know what Terrell Owens will bring to the party. Many people believe this Cowboy team can reach the Super Bowl, including Sports Illustrated's Peter King. I am not ready to go that far, but I will say an 11-5 record is possible. I also believe that when the playoffs begin in early 2007 there will a huge buzz much like the Mavericks created this year.

2006 will finish out in a very memorable fashion workwise. I may even get a vacation out of all this. Of course I am looking far ahead, cognizant that for now the order of the day is 100 degree heat, no rain until the fall, and a 4th of July fireworks show that is second to none in Dallas downtown.

This summer brings much to ponder, yet as work goes luck has been on my side, as has my decision making. Come by and visit for a Margarita, and I'll keep the conversation lighter and the humor really cool!

Over and out in Big D

Mr Will